Billy McFarland visits "Jesse Watters Primetime" at Fox News Studios on August 25, 2023 in New York City
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The history of Fyre Festival is a long and complicated one that factors in everything from Ja Rule to actual prison sentences. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the cultural and political moment, it's become a brand that refuses to die. Not only is Billy McFarland trying to get a second music festival off the ground, news has emerged of an unlikely diversification; a Fyre Festival streaming service.
According to Deadline, documentarian Shawn Rech has purchased two Fyre Festival trademarks and intends to use the name for a new music-focused subscription video-on-demand platform. He sees a gap in the market for a new MTV-style proposition and thinks Fyre Festival has the sort of name to grab the necessary eyeballs that will make the whole thing a success.
“Music networks are all just programming now and I have no interest in watching people slip on bananas. It has nothing to do with music,” Rech told Deadline. “I needed a big name that people would remember, even if it’s attached to infamy, so that’s why I bought these [trademarks].”
Rech made his name as the co-founder of the true crime streaming platform TruBlu alongside his business partner, To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen. He told the publication that McFarland will have a presence on the network, which he intends to launch by Thanksgiving. Fyre will be available ad-free at a cost of $3.99 a month or as a FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television) channel. “We’re building something authentic and lasting,” Rech is quoted as saying.
Last week Fyre Festival 2, the follow-up to the 2017 event that descended into chaos and subsequent fraud lawsuits, lost its site in Playa Del Carmen. McFarland remains confident that the festival, which is scheduled to run from May 30 to June 2, is still going ahead.
